Our grants
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Strengthening the Legislative Capacity of Key Actors on Marine and Coastal Conservation
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Plastic Free Shores Plastic Free Waters
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Asi River and Delta Environmental Vision Planning
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Inclusive Approach for Lake Gölbaşı (Hatay) Sustainability
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Sea Turtles of Antalya
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Let Gediz Delta Live!
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Nature and Culture in Aegean Coasts of Turkey
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Conservation of Kavakderesi, Bodrum
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Empowering Sustainability in Gökçeada
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Act4Species
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Grant Making Strategy
The Turquoise Coast Environment Fund (TCEF), as a branch of the Conservation Collective, works in partnership with Support Foundation for Civil Society (STDV) as a local regranting partner in Turkey, using its local expertise and governance to support the process of selecting the best grassroots conservation initiatives protecting and restoring nature across the western and southern in-shore marine environments and coastal communities.
An Evaluation Committee consisting of the Steering Committee and Local Advisory Board of the TCEF will approve the grants. Each funding application will be evaluated in terms of relevant work already going on in the locality, where it fits into broader strategies, what will be achieved on the ground, and longer-term sustainability. Below is the list of criteria checklists with indicators for proposed projects or actions.
TCEF'S PREFERRED TYPES OF PROJECTS
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Working Directly
Directly preserving, protecting and regenerating habitats/species or preventing, slowing down or helping us adapt to climate change.
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Research or Analysis
Improving our understanding of conservation issues and ‘what works’ to protect, preserve and regenerate environments.
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Engagement
Promoting and supporting collective action.
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Campaigning
Helping businesses and consumers to act more sustainably.
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Advocacy and Lobbying
Influencing governments and other institutions.
Grant criteria Overview
WHO CAN APPLY: Organizations that meet the following application criteria and have legal entity can apply to the fund:
- Associations, foundations, cooperatives, and other non-profit types established in Turkey (Community-based groups without a legal entity must submit their application through a host organization with a legal entity. In this case, the host organization must meet the application criteria and a goodwill agreement must be submitted at the application stage outlining the partnership).
- Organisations with an annual 2023 income of less than 4.000.000 TRY.
- Working actively in the field of nature and biodiversity, marine, and coastal conservation issues in Turkey.
GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE: TCEF supports projects throughout the southern and/or western coastal regions of Turkey including on the islands, coastal wetlands connected to land and sea. Applications from all parts of the country will be accepted, but the actions of local grassroots, CSOs carrying out these activities should take place in the focal regions of TCEF.
The 2023 third round of applications was focusing on specifically for the Earthquake-affected regions, Hatay, Adana, and Mersin. TCEF will continue support to the restoration and regeneration projects for sustainable coastal and marine conservation.
We will continue support to the conservation of our marine and coastal areas. The fourth round of applications are open now!
DURATION OF THE ACTIONS: The implementation period of the activities specified in the applications should be a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 12 months.
The earliest start date for activities is July 2024. All projects should be completed by July 2025.
Grants and Timeline
The total amount will be 1,800,000 TRY. Grants up to TRY 350,000 in size will be considered for a direct grant from TCEF. Co-financing is encouraged in all applications.
Grants will be paid in installments based on the project’s timeline and budget upon the receipt of the signed Grant Agreement. Please note that payments are made in at least three installments via bank transfer. The final installment, corresponding to 10% of the approved total budget, is paid within one month after the final report is approved, proving that the grantee organization has fulfilled all the obligations in the signed agreement. Grantee organizations are required to keep the invoices of their expenditures within the scope of the grant for three years. If deemed necessary, a financial audit may be requested by the Support Foundation for Civil Society.
The application and review process will be carried out following the schedule below:
Announcement of the Fund: 19 December 2023
Application Deadline: 30 January 2024
Evaluation: February 2024
Approval announced: February 2024
Start of implementation: March 2024
Monitoring and Evaluation
The projects are expected to be clear and feasible, delivering measurable, sustainable, long-term high impact and potential for sustainable outcomes. Replicability and opportunities to scale will also be looked for, as will opportunities for capacity building and collaboration among a wide range of stakeholders, including local communities and authorities.
Projects should fit into the priority areas below:
- Promoting sustainable food systems: Reflecting on the future of food systems by protecting, sustaining, and rebuilding the existing food-agriculture nexus. This will require a holistic approach, such as farm-to-fork strategies and consideration and management of all types of externalities and effects of food production systems.
- Ecosystem-based management approaches for biodiversity conservation: Projects addressing land and marine biodiversity, innovative approaches promoting holistic, cross-sectoral, bottom-up, transparent, adaptive, inclusive, and participatory management of coastal use, including small-scale fisheries and other resources.
- Legal and institutional support and empowerment of local NGOs: Projects empower local entities in various thematic areas including capacity building for knowledge base and networking, and the ability to use the right set of data to make informed decisions to mobilize conservation action in appropriate sites.
Grantees supported under the program are required to submit interim and final reports on dates determined in the grant agreement. Organisations supported by TCEF funds can also be visited at regular intervals and meetings can be requested by the Executive Director of TCEF.
Evaluation Committee
The Evaluation Committee consisting of the TPF, TMF, and TCEF’s Steering Committee, with input from TCEF’s Scientific Advisory Council, will review and approve the grants.
Evaluation Criteria
Each funding application will be evaluated in terms of relevant work already going on the ground, where it fits into broader strategies, what will be achieved on the ground, and longer-term sustainability. Grantees are expected to participate in various evaluation activities to measure the impact of the grant. These activities consist of completing various evaluation questionnaires and focus group discussions.
When To Apply
Applications will be open from 2 April 2024 until 8 May 2024 (18:00 Türkiye time).
Grant announcements will be made in June 2024.
For more information on the application guidelines and eligibility criteria, please visit: https://siviltoplumdestek.org/turquoise-coast-environment-fund/
How to apply
All applicants are required to fill out the application form in Turkish or English.
It is possible to download the *.pdf version of the application form to your device from here and save it into another file for ease of completion. Thus, you can proceed later by copying and pasting the relevant fields in the application form.
When submitting the application form, please also provide the following information:
- A curriculum vitae of a person who will be primarily responsible for the application when/if the application is accepted.
- A budget to realize your purpose in the application, including the amount you will request from the TCEF.
- A clear timeline plan of project activities and outcomes.
- Additional information, documents, publications, news, etc. that you think will strengthen your application.
We request that you attach all these files compressed in a single *.zip file. Applications will not be assessed before additional documents reach the SDTV.
If you have any questions or more information required, please get in touch with us via e-mail at aysegul@turquoisecoastenvironment.org